P.M. BRIEFING : Honey Tests for Pesticide Set
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will test honey after some in Massachusetts was found with 22 times the legal amount of pesticide, it was reported today.
Officials identified two large beekeeping operations which allegedly misused the chemical, fluvalinate, in hives used to pollinate cranberry bogs in Massachusetts, the Boston Herald reported.
Inspectors found fluvalinate in honey taken from hives owned by one of the companies. The company sells honey to the public as well as to the federal government, which gives it to schools and senior citizen centers.
John A. Hamilton Jr., compliance director for the FDA in Boston, said the agency is concerned that dozens of beekeepers who travel between Florida and New England pollinating everything from citrus groves to apple orchards may be misusing the pesticide.
“We don’t know whether this is (in) food for human consumption or not at this point, so we are actively investigating it and we will begin testing the honey that is sold for human consumption,” he said.
Fluvalinate, which is legal for use in hives which do not produce honey, is used to kill the varroa mite, which kills bees.
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